KRW Associates Leads Double Police Chief Searches in Colorado

March 14, 2018 – The public sector is in the midst of major transformation. It faces an array of challenges that range from shifting public expectations to budgetary pressures and a growing demand for operational efficiency. To successfully navigate these issues, government organizations need leaders who are focused, tenacious and adaptable, with the capacity to deal with significant scale, complexity and ambiguity, say recruiters who specialize in the field.

One executive search firm focused on this is Colorado Springs, CO-based KRW Associates, which was recently tapped to find two new police chiefs in Colorado. The assignments involve the University of Colorado in Boulder and the city of Greely. Managing partner Jerry Williams is leading both searches along with senior associate Susan Eaton.

University of Colorado

The chief of police manages a full-service police department for the university. The individual is responsible for overseeing sworn police officers who provide the full range of police services to the university community, including patrol, investigative, crime prevention, 24/7 communications center and community service functions, said KRW Associates. The chief is also responsible for promoting a safe and secure educational and work environment for the university community through the communication and enforcement of university policies, federal, state, and local laws.

The successful candidate will have experience and demonstrated knowledge of emergency management and dealing with and managing emergency situations in a community or university environment, said the search firm. The individual must have a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, law enforcement, public administration, business administration or a related area as well as a minimum of 10 years of peace officers standards and training (POST) certified experience. Candidates must also hold a commander-level rank or higher. Final applicants for this position are subject to reference checks, a psychological exam, a polygraph, criminal history, motor vehicle and financial history background checks. The hiring compensation range for this position is $145,000 to $183,000, which will be commensurate with skills and experience, the search firm said.

Spelman Johnson Lands Chief of Police for University of ChicagoThe University of Chicago has named veteran police chief Kenton W. Rainey as chief of police after a national search by recruiting firm Spelman Johnson. Mr. Rainey previously served as the chief of police for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department.

As one of 34 U.S. public institutions belonging to the Association of American Universities, the University of Colorado in Boulder has an enrollment of more than 33,000 students. Its police agency has 46 sworn and 36 non-sworn employees providing community-based public safety services to a diverse community of 36,000 affiliates.

City of Greeley

Greeley, situated 49 miles north of Denver, has a population of more than 100,000 people. The police department has 154 authorized sworn staff, 54 civilians and a budget of over $27 million. It is a full-service law enforcement agency, with capabilities and special units beyond what would be expected for an agency its size.

Its new chief will be responsible for the management, administration and operations of the department, which includes labor relations, contract administration and personnel administration. The city’s chief of police has overall responsibility for the direction of the operations and the support services divisions.

The incoming chief should have experience leading effective and professional multijurisdictional cooperative endeavors. The new leader “must have experience working collaboratively with all stakeholders, embracing community policing, innovation and best practices to address public safety issues in a growing urban environment,” said KRW. In addition, candidates must have a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice or related field from an accredited college or university, 10 years full-time professional law enforcement experience including five years of supervisory experience at the rank of lieutenant or above, and five years of administrative or managerial experience. The salary for the role is negotiable depending upon qualifications and experience, within a hiring compensation range of $155,000 to $175,000, plus an attractive and competitive fringe benefits plan, said the search firm.

Russell Reynolds Associates Recruits Houston Police ChiefLate last year, Russell Reynolds Associates recruited Art Acevedo as the next chief of police for the city of Houston. He becomes the first Latino to take on the Houston police’s top post. Mayor Sylvester Turner said “Houston is getting a world-class police chief.”

The Search Consultants

The principals of KRW have decades of public-sector experience as practitioners as well as years of executive search and organizational consulting experience throughout the U.S. The firm has found police chiefs for a number of towns in Colorado, including Fairplay, Durango, Granby, Castle Rock, Englewood and Manitou Springs, among others.

Dr. Williams spent over 20 years as a public-sector executive as well as program director for a key graduate leadership program in the school of public affairs at the University of Colorado at Denver. In addition to his experience in the selection of executives as the chief of police for the cities of Arvada and Aurora, CO, he has been involved in local government executive job search consulting since 2001.

Ms. Eaton has over 20 years of public-sector human resources management experience having served as the human resources director for Englewood, CO and for Eagle county government. She has acted as project manager for the recruitment and placement of city managers, fire chiefs, police chiefs, library directors, community development directors and information technology directors. She has assisted KRW with executive recruitment projects for chiefs of police and assistant town administrators.